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| by: Victoria Handysides | February 17, 2009 6:48 PM | comments: (0) |
Here's a story I wrote for the print version of our paper today:
By Victoria Handysides
Victoria.handysides@metronews.ca
When a recently divorced Edmonton woman met a gorgeous younger man on an Internet dating site, an overwhelming sense of flattery veiled any suspicion that he was capable of breaking her heart and draining her bank account.
The shamed victim, who does not want to be identified, joins a list of vulnerable area women conned out of almost $300,000 in the past few months by Nigerian scammers trolling popular dating websites.
“They don’t tell you bad stuff – they tell you good stuff, and that’s what everyone wants to hear,” she said yesterday.
The man she fell for claimed to be a wealthy American businessman, dealing in antiques in Nigeria. She ended up sending him thousands, after his he claimed his son was in a terrible car accident, underwent three surgeries, and eventually died.
She said that while, at first, she refused to give him money, his insistence and promises they’d meet in person, combined with inescapable loneliness was enough to mask any possible foreshadowing.
“It feels like an addiction after a while,” she said. “You begin to love that person and believe them, no matter what they say. You just keep doing it, and it’s very hard to stop.”
Though police have received a number of complaints about the “highly sophisticated” scam, there’s little hope of catching the crooks or recovering any cash.
“They know how to cover their tracks,” said EPS economic crimes Det. Mark Johnson, who added though it’s certain her money was collected in Nigeria, it’s impossible to tell by who.
Though horrible spelling in emails and a strong accent on the phone can be a calling card of a brewing Nigerian scam, the victim who spoke out yesterday said her online love interest had neither.
The scam is one of many born in the central African country, from which Canadians are duped out of millions each year. Officials are hoping more victims will come forward.
“How could you do this to me?” she said through tears. “They take your life, basically."
A real-life analysis on how we attract, repel, and disgust one another, unintentionally, shamefully, or deserving of high fives. While she is a writer, the author is no expert, nor does she claim to be. "Just another value shopper wandering through the meet market..."
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